hard Diving Hurghada

Thistlegorm Wreck

Also known as: SS Thistlegorm Thistlegorm Shipwreck

Illustration based on a photo by Woodym555 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Depth Range

16–32m

Boat Ride

210 min

Difficulty

hard

Open water in the northern Red Sea, often strong current and a choppy surface - Advanced divers, long-range or overnight trip from Hurghada

Sea conditions at Thistlegorm Wreck today

Fair — some chop

Sea

26.5°C

Waves

0.8 m

Wind

6 kn NW

Air

23°C

Today

1.1 m · 20 kn

Tue 6

1.1 m · 22 kn

Wed 7

1.0 m · 17 kn

Thu 8

1.1 m · 17 kn

Fri 9

1.3 m · 18 kn

Sat 10

1.1 m · 16 kn

Sun 11

0.7 m · 10 kn

Water is 26.5°C — 3 mm full wetsuit is the usual choice.

Updated 03:37 · Full conditions & 7-day outlook
Forecast data: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Model values for the area, not a reading at the reef — your skipper and guide make the call on the day.

SS Thistlegorm is Egypt's most famous wreck dive and one of the best-known wreck dives in the world: a 126-metre British armed merchant ship sunk by German bombers in October 1941, still lying on the seabed with the war cargo she was carrying.

She rests on a sandy bottom at about 30 m with her deck at roughly 16-17 m, in the northern Red Sea at the mouth of the Gulf of Suez, first located by Jacques Cousteau in the 1950s and rediscovered by divers in the 1990s. The holds still contain Bedford trucks, BSA motorcycles, Bren Carriers, rifles and aircraft parts, and two railway locomotives lie beside the wreck where the blast threw them. Most divers make two dives - one around the outside, with the huge stern guns and the locomotives, and one through the holds - and the wreck is covered in coral and busy with glassfish, batfish and lionfish.

The Thistlegorm is usually dived from Sharm el-Sheikh; from Hurghada it is a long-range trip by liveaboard or an overnight crossing. Current can be strong and the surface choppy, so Advanced Open Water (ideally with Nitrox and wreck training) and calm-weather planning are advised. The wreck is protected: nothing may be removed.

What You Might See

Glassfish inside the holds Batfish Giant moray eels Lionfish & scorpionfish Tuna & jacks over the wreck Turtles (occasional)

Suitable for

Experienced divers only
Advanced certification and logged dives
Deep-dive training useful

Best time to dive here

Divable all year — the Red Sea has no closed season. Water runs from about 22°C in February to 30°C in August, and March–May and September–November give the most comfortable mix of warm water, light wind and good visibility. Conditions at this site: Open water in the northern Red Sea, often strong current and a choppy surface - Advanced divers, long-range or overnight trip from Hurghada

Sea temperature, wind and calm days month by month →

Where it is

This site is the highlighted pin; the others are the rest of the reefs around Hurghada. Boat times are from the main harbour and vary with sea conditions.

Get directions Open in OpenStreetMap 27.8141,33.92